November 20th, 2012 |
Comments Off on Every person has some good in them |

To continue on with my ten post series which stem from my recent post, “9 things I have learned,” this is the topic I struggle with the most. Well, that and number three on the list, “It is not my place to condemn others.” Maybe it’s because I don’t really care to find the good in some people, or maybe I’m just too impatient? Not sure. Or maybe it’s because I’ve watched “The Punisher” one too many times!

We live in a world of hatred, greed, selfishness, disease and death. It’s easy to see those things and how the world keeps getting worse. But we also live in a world of love, service, selflessness, miracles and the beauty of life! And it is also very easy to see those things as well. Everything must have it’s opposite, otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to choose one or the other. We wouldn’t know what joy really was because we had not experienced misery. But once we had experienced it, we would, without a doubt, know what true joy was.

Every Person has some Good in them.

So, as individuals, it is also my belief that each of us have both good and bad within us and it’s up to use to choose which side dictates our actions. It’s Star Wars at it’s best! The dark side of the force exists and can make you very powerful, but you still have to choose it. And once you do, it will take over and make things more difficult when trying to access the good side. So even within us, there is opposition.

For example, I used to work closely with a man who was, within the last few years, convicted for the murder of his wife and was sentenced to life is prison. When I first heard of the news, I was absolutely shocked. From my experience in working with this guy, in my mind, there was no possible way that he could have done such a thing. Although he was extremely large in stature, he was what I would call a “Gentle Giant.” He was happy, got along well with others, gave of his time freely, was glad to help out and seemed to be a really good person.

There were certain things which happened in his life at that time that accumulated until he just couldn’t take it any longer….and he snapped. He allowed the bad side of him to take over. Regardless of how much good we have within us, we all must pay the price of our actions, whether that price is good or bad.

Now maybe this was naive of me, but I trusted this man enough to leave my family alone with him. I had no concern over their safety while in his presence, because of who he was when I knew him. Now, a lot could have happened in the few years that followed which led up to his conviction, but at that time, I chose to see the good in him and he reciprocated that.

So my point is, there is some good in everyone and everything. It’s all in our perspective and there are certain things that happen to us or that we go through which influence that perspective.

I encourage you to see the good in those that you work with. Make that your focus, because if you get caught up in seeing the bad in everything, it will eventually take over and you will most likely experience more misery in your life, your business and in all you do.

I’m not saying that it wasn’t his fault that he murdered his wife. It was, and justice be done. I’m just saying that during those few years after working with him, if others could have focused more on the good in him, especially those closest to him, rather than the bad, I am willing to bet that the murder would have never happened.

I know, it’s kind of a morbid story for such a good topic. A little negativity can go a long way, and so can a little positivity. Let’s be the ones that are the creators of good and set expectations of good from others. As a leader in my business, my church and in my family, it is up to me to see in others what they may not be able to see in themselves, and then help them reach that potential.

That’s the greatest job in the whole world. May you entitle yourself to be a leader of good as well and make this world a better place.

(If you’d like to get all your friends together and sing a song, now would be a good time.)